the process

There are three major approaches to processing wet feedstocks, such as kelp, into fuels:

• HydroThermal Liquefaction, followed by Catalytic Hydrothermal Gasification (HTL/CHG)
• Fermentation
• Anaerobic digestion (AD)
  

HTL/CHG systems process wet feedstocks into bio-oil which can be further processed by the existing refineries into needed fuels.  HTL systems are produced by Genifuel (USA), Steeper Energy (Denmark) and Circlia Nordic (Denmark).  Circlia Nordic also makes a smaller, modular system that arrives in shipping containers and can be stacked. 

Fermentation produces alcohols such as ethanol or butanol, depending on the organisms and  processes.  Fermentation facilities are common in the mid-west, and are used to process corn and other feedstocks.  A facility run by Gevo in Luverne, Minnesota is making ethanol and isobutanol.  Organisms have been tested that efficiently digest the sugars (alginates, mannitol) found in brown kelp.  A regulatory-approved pathway exists to make ethanol into sustainable aviation fuel. 

Anaerobic digestion (AD) produces methane that can be injected into regional pipelines. CR&R has a large digester in Riverside County, CA and has bench-tested kelp. The kelp performed 5% better than their normal feedstocks of lawn/garden cuttings.  Digesters are located around California, including Agromin (Oxnard/Ventura County) and ReSource Center (Santa Barbara County).  The resulting methane can be used to make green methanol for long-haul shipping or green hydrogen for fuel cells.  The utilities can also use the green methane from the pipelines to fuel the spinning generators on days of low wind and low sun.  Green methane provides a seamless renewable fuel for this existing infrastructure, which is the backbone of our current electrical grid.